A new report shows even as high interest rates slow the growth of home prices nationwide, more American households are cost-burdened than ever before. And Arizona is among the hardest-hit states. 

In its 2023 State of the Nation's Housing report, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University finds a record number of Americans are now having to put more than 30% of their income toward housing. In the Phoenix area, nearly a third of households are cost-burdened. 

"Rising housing costs, coupled with pandemic-era income losses, produced the most significant drop in housing affordability in years," the report says. 

The expiration of pandemic-era eviction protections is adding strain to nationwide housing and affordability crises, said Daniel McCue, Joint Center for Housing Studies senior research associate.

“People experiencing homelessness is up with more evictions, particularly unsheltered homelessness, which is up 35% since 2015,” McCue said. 

The report identifies Arizona as one of the states that saw the largest jumps in homelessness in that timeframe.